Syracuse, NY -- Breakfast is back at the corner of Liberty and Spencer streets. Fourteen months after Doc's Little Gem shut down, The Gem opened at 6 a.m.

Customers were outnumbered by TV news crews in the opening minutes, but things quickly settled out, the bright lights were shut off and customers got down to eating.

Ed Hardenburgh came in for coffee and a grilled hard roll. He's been coming in since 1958, he explained. Retired now, Hardenburgh said he's looking forward to coming every morning. When he was working, he said, he'd eat breakfast and lunch at the diner.

Now run by Doug LaLone, The Gem has three times as much seating as it did in its previous incarnation.

Frank Ordonez / The Post-StandardBarry Kahn of Marcellus gets a refill of coffee from waitress Missy Martin during The Gem's first day of buisness on Friday. Kahn was among the first of several customer who arrived at 6:00 a.m. today.